His First Real Halloween
by Divess
Summary: Every child, Magical or Muggle knows something about Halloween. Harry Potter isn't any exception. He knew about it alright. However due to circumstances beyond his control. He had only been allowed to experience it once. On his sixth birthday. One shot. K All Harry Potter characters belong to J K Rowling.


**Winner for: **_**The Classic Halloween Challenge on The Maple Bookshelf**_

**Goal: **write a Classic Halloween Story

Every child, Magical or Muggle knows something about Halloween. Harry Potter isn't any exception. He knew about it alright. However due to circumstances beyond his control. He had only been allowed to experience it once. On his sixth birthday. One shot. K+

**His First Real Halloween**

Harry's inexperience with the scary holiday was due in part to his cousin Dudley and in part to his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. The one time they had allowed Harry to dress up (as a tramp in Dudley's old clothes) he had returned to the house with a bag of sweets and stories of the ghosts, vampires, witches and ghoulish things he had seen while traversing the neighborhood.

Harry's safe return hadn't set well with the Dursleys. Their most fervent hope had been that the Voldemort fellow or someone of his ilk would have grabbed Harry up and snapped him in half. That way they would have been done with the cheeky, little beggar.

Standing in the doorway of the living room (he wasn't allowed in the room itself) Harry had gone on and on that night unaware his relatives didn't give two shits about the sweets Mrs. Alleyne and the others had given him.

The first inkling Harry had that something was off was when Vernon Dursley grabbed his bag of sweets screaming that Harry had stolen them from Dudley.

When Harry tried to protest, Petunia had cuffed him around the head, grabbed his bag and handed it to Dudley. She had then told Harry he was a liar and a waste of space like his father. After a further telling off, she ordered Harry to his cupboard where she had locked him in with a loud snap.

"Those are my sweets. Give them to me," Harry had shouted to no avail through the bars on the cupboard door.

"Shut it Potter," Dudley had shouted back. "No one cares what you want."

The entire Dursley family had a good laugh at Harry's expense. Especially Dudley who happily took Harry's bag of sweets handed to him by his mother.

The fat lump had stuffed as many sweets in his mouth as his fat jaws could hold before complaining to his mother of a stomach ache. "Mum. Harry did something to this candy. He put some of that magic…"

Vernon had jumped up from his chair to cut across his son. "Do not say that word. It doesn't exist. If anything, that blasted little beggar put poison on the sweets. Do not eat another morsel from that bag. Throw it in the trash."

Then Vernon had turned his wrath on Petunia. "How could you let our son eat anything that filthy Potter boy had in his hand. Throw it away…. Now. Our little Dudders has a delicate stomach. We can't be too careful."

Even at the tender age of six and a half years old, Dudley knew how to work his parents. He knew exactly how to press home a point. "I think Harry tried to poison me daddy," he had wailed plaintively. "Potter shouldn't be allowed to have Halloween ever again."

And so it went.

Halloween was one of the most vibrant and mystical nights in the Magical as well as the Muggle worlds. But the boy who was destined to become the most important child in the Wizarding World was not allowed to participate.

From 1986 onward, Harry Potter had been locked in his cupboard on Halloween while the entire young population of Surrey dressed up in costumes, allowed themselves to be scared senseless and went door to door to gather sweets. Muggles did all this while unknowingly walking among those Magical beings who had chosen this night to walk among them.

Like the Muggles, Harry didn't have any idea that years earlier _on this very night _a villain called Voldemort had strode through a town similar to theirs on his way to murder three people. He had succeeded in murdering two.

/*/

That was then. This was now.

Harry hadn't ever gotten back at his relatives for this major slight in his young life, but he didn't give a fat rat's arse now. Now he was at Hogwarts and was going to enjoy his first Halloween away from Privet Drive. He and Ron Weasley intended to make the most of their first Hogwarts Halloween Feast.

/*/

At Hogwarts, Harry has acquired friends. Friends who liked and wanted to be around him. He had met and been well received by Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom along with several others.

In the beginning, he and Ron had become fast mates but experienced a bit of dissension with a witch named Hermione Granger. Hermione was sort of a know it all and had rubbed Harry and Ron the wrong way from the start. Although after a few false starts they managed to remain in the same room for periods of time without having a three way shout down.

It was at this tentative point in their relationship that Halloween 1991 approached.

Being a Muggleborn witch, Hermione had loads of stories to share about her experiences with All Hallows Eve. Harry, Ron and other first year Gryffindors were going to be treated to several harrowing stories Hermione Granger had to tell.

Neville Longbottom another Gryffindor first year nearly tripped over his own feet as he made a hasty retreat from the room when the group began to discuss scary stories. On his way out of the room Neville told his classmates he didn't believe in such nonsense and was going to bed.

The rest of the boys knew Neville was afraid of his own shadow and had simply shrugged as they glanced at his retreating back.

The remaining first years settled back down to hear the stories.

/*/

Dean Thomas who was also a Muggleborn had a few stories to share as well. But Hermione had quickly and efficiently pulled the spotlight back to herself when Dean began to recite the gory tale of his eighth Halloween.

Harry and Ron had quietly whispered to Dean that they would like to hear his story after the know it all finished holding court.

Hermione's cheeks had turned a bit pink, but she pushed on as though she hadn't heard Harry and Ron's remark to Dean.

After extinguishing the lights in the room, Hermione began to relate the story of her scariest Halloween adventure complete with magically generated sounds and visions.

/*/

The story had gone along well until Ron and Seamus became unnerved when Hermione used wand generated rattling and thumping noises to emphasize the more salient points of the story.

When Hermione related the part about being grabbed by an old, Muggle man who used the cover of Halloween festivities to capture, cook and eat children. The hairs on the back of the boys necks stood up. Each boy had glanced furtively around the dark room before turning their eyes back to Hermione.

"Get off me Seamus." A nervous Ron remarked loudly as he pulled away from his cringing dorm mate. They had all heard the rustling and whispering noises coming from a dark corner. Only Seamus had reacted so visibly. "You're very nearly in my lap. Buck up mate. It's only the wind or something."

"The wind?" Asked an insulted yet still frightened Seamus. "Are you daft? We're in our Common Room. How can it be the wind?"

Ron didn't answer Seamus' questions. Instead, he turned to Harry. "It's all rubbish. It couldn't have happened. Hermione is having us on. Right Harry?"

Harry didn't have a chance to reply.

Hermione who had continued to speak cut herself off in mid sentence to give Ron a scathing reply. "You weren't there Ronald Weasley. It happened just as I said. In the middle of trick-or-treat the old Muggle grabbed me by the sleeve of my Fairy Queen costume and tossed me into a sack alongside two smaller children."

Dean Thomas who wasn't as frightened told Ron and Seamus to calm down. Turning to Hermione, Dean gave her a skeptical look. "Come on Hermione." He remarked in a voice full of sarcasm. "Where were your parents? My mum took my brother and I Trick-Or-Treating every year. We never heard anything about an old Muggle who captured and ate children. It would have been all over the news."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I have no idea why you've never heard of it Dean. It was in the news where we lived," huffed Hermione dramatically. "And for your information. It was my dad who rescued me and the others. Unfortunately, the old blighter got away by disappearing from in front of my dad's eyes. My dad did report it to the authorities, but they didn't believe him. No one would even entertain the thought that there was a bloke running loose who ate little children. The officers made it quite clear they thought the story was part of some ghoulish Halloween prank. Even though the police allowed my dad to file a report. He was upset over the way he had been treated."

Harry had cautiously put in his two cents. "The whole thing does sound a bit far fetched Hermione," he remarked in an even voice. "If there was someone out there eating Muggles, he would only have had to capture my cousin. Dudley is so fat that the old Muggle would have been able to feed off him all year."

Hermione turned up her nose at Harry's remark while all the boys had a laugh.

"For your information," Hermione said haughtily as she stood to leave the room. "I looked up Muggles who eat children after I got to Hogwarts. I didn't find anything about Muggles, but there was quite a long passage on Cannibal Ghouls who take the form of an old Muggle. So they do exist. At least they existed in the 1800's. Who's to say they aren't still around? Perhaps all of you should try a bit of research. You might learn something. I'll bet you haven't even finished A History Of Magic.

"We have too," replied Ron loudly.

"As if. I don't believe any of you has cracked a book since you arrived at Hogwarts. But have it your own way.

Ron stuck his tongue out at Hermione's back giving his mates another laugh.

Hermione rolled her eyes at whatever Ron had done behind her back and just kept talking. "Since Professor Dumbledore has set Halloween as a free day. Perhaps you'll be able to get some studying in. Now. If you all will excuse me, I'm going to prepare my costume for tomorrow's Halloween Feast. Goodnight."

/*/

With the lights back on and their courage at full measure. Harry, Seamus, Ron and Dean discussed the story Hermione had told them. Giggling and chuckling they came to the conclusion that Hermione Granger was mad.

But the wheels in Ron's head had begun to spin. Hermione's snotty recitation had given him an idea. He would try to get his joker brothers Fred and George to take him and Harry out to see what Muggle Halloween was really all about.

It would be risky. They would all get detention or even expelled if Filch or Professor Dumbledore caught them out. Ron would have liked Seamus and Dean to come as well, but their presence would increase the chances of them all getting caught. If Fred and George would do it, it would be just him and Harry.

To Ron's surprise, Fred and George had been more than willing to lead the two first years astray.

It was a day off. Therefore, Harry and Ron knew their housemates probably expected to hang out with them. To prevent Seamus, Dean and Neville from getting onto their scheme. Harry and Ron told the others they planned to spend the day exploring Hogwarts but would be back way before the feast started.

None of the other three had any interest in seeing the Black Lake or Hagrid's hut. They wished Ron and Harry a good time and that had been the end of it.

Halloween at Hogwarts was also a day for older students who had permission slips on file to visit Hogsmeade. Fred thought the four of them could possibly blend in with the crowd without being noticed. No one would ever think first and third years would have enough courage to sneak out of the school for a lark.

So. On Halloween afternoon 1991, Harry and Ron followed Fred and George through a secret tunnel which would lead them into the bowels of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

Emerging carefully from the basement of Honeydukes they took a few seconds to survey their surroundings. Then the four outlaws moved swiftly onto the High Street. From there they followed the dirt road away from Hogsmeade toward the small, Muggle villages of West Calder and Polbeth where they planned to join the Muggle children in their Halloween escapades.

/*/

Halfway between Hogsmeade and the villages. Fred, George and Harry changed into the costumes they carried in their inside pockets. Ron who had little to no imagination planned to go trick or treating in his real Hogwarts robes and hat.

George had tried to give Ron a telling off for wearing Wizarding clothing going into a Muggle village, but Fred had stepped in between his brothers. "George. You are starting to sound like mum. Leave the boy alone. This is the one night of the year which Muggles will be fine with anything they see and believe none of it."

Ron grinned at Harry but directed his comment to George. "Yeah George. Leave the boy alone. He knows exactly what he is doing." For which he received a cuff about the head from George.

/*/

Walking quickly along the other end of the High Street the four young wizards finally reached the first village.

Even in the early afternoon there was so much frivolity and so many children out and about in West Calder that Fred and George decided there wasn't any reason to visit Polbeth. There seemed to be plenty of action right there in West Calder.

The two younger boys had simply shrugged their shoulders as they looked around in wonder.

Harry was amazed. He hadn't ever seen this many children in one place at the same time except at Hogwarts. Neither had Ron.

"Hold those treat bags high boys and remember to shout out clearly. Give me sweets," suggested Fred.

"Most important of all," chimed in George. "Don't hex anyone. Muggles are more scared of you than you are of them. Just take the treat and keep on moving."

Ron turned to Harry with a questioning look. "Give us sweets? I thought Hermione told us she said trick-or-treat when she went out on Halloween ?"

Harry thought for a moment before answering Ron. "Perhaps we're meant to say trick or treat, give me sweets. But I don't know if we should trust what Fred says. He's mad enough to think we might hex someone. How would we do that? We don't even know any spells yet."

"You're right," laughed Ron. "Fred _is_ mad. Always has been. We'll just say trick or treat the same as Hermione."

/*/

The four Hogwarts wizards fell in behind a group of Muggle children. Several of whom were accompanied by older kids or parents as they went door to door.

Their costumes were great. Harry could identify most of the costumes where the Weasley's had no idea of what was what. There was even one older boy who was dressed as that weird, scary guy from Muggle Fright TV called the Cryptkeeper.

Harry didn't mention the Cryptkeeper to the other boys. Muggle Fright TV was a premise which would take too long to explain to Fred, George and Ron. There was too much to see and do in West Calder for Harry to stand there explaining Muggle life to his three friends.

Fred, George, Harry and Ron mimicked the Muggles. When they got to each door they gave a hearty trick or treat and were rewarded with sweets or a small toy. To their delight the treat bags they were carrying began to fill very quickly.

The boys had even gone into a greengrocer to collect. George gave a skeptical look at the apples the greengrocer was giving out. Mumbling quietly he remarked that apples weren't proper Halloween fare. He wanted sweets or nothing.

Fred told George to shut it even as he threw away the toothbrush he had received from a place called dentist.

/*/

The four boys had a great time. They had even struck up a conversation with several Muggle children who were admiring Ron's robes and hat telling him he looked just like a wizard from one of their story books.

Fred and George glanced at each other. Each knew what the other was thinking. It was their unfortunate luck to have run into a dangerous commodity. Muggles with knowledge.

George couldn't resist whispering his thoughts to George. "Our balmy brother could have given us all away with his choice to wear his Hogwarts robes and hat instead of a costume."

"Don't worry too much about that George." Harry had remarked quietly but sagely. "Muggles don't believe we exist. Remember."

"Out of the mouth of a first year. You are right in one Harry. Let's keep moving. There are sweets to be had."

/*/

Around 3:30, Harry and Ron who were looking through their bags of sweets had fallen five or six steps behind Fred and George. They were discussing their great score when Ron looked up to see an old Muggle man approaching the twins.

Ron started stammering as he grabbed Harry by the arm. "Do-do-do you see w-what I see Harry?"

Harry stammered back just as nervously. "I-I-It's the man with the s-s-sack. He's going to capture Fred and George. We've got to warn them."

Holding tightly to their treat bags. Harry and Ron ran towards Fred and George shouting at their backs.

"Fred. George. Get away from him. He's a Cannibal Ghoul. He's going to capture you in his sack and cook you. He eats children."

With the flick of his snakelike tongue, the Cannibal Ghoul rolled his eyes at Harry and Ron showing a set of wicked, pointed teeth before literally disappearing from in front of their eyes.

Fred and George saw none of it as they had turned around to find out what the shouting was about.

Harry and Ron approached the twins all in a dither. "He travels with a sack," Ron explained excitedly.

"It's him. I know it. Hermione told us all about it," added Harry. "He's a Cannibal Ghoul. He eats children. We have to get away from him. We have to get away from here."

"Let's go. Let's get back to Hogwarts," shouted Harry and Ron almost simultaneously.

Fred and George who had been startled by the shouting turned back to have another look at the old, Muggle with the sack, but he was gone.

"We want to go back to Hogwarts," shouted Harry and Ron in unison. "We don't want to get eaten."

As much as Harry and Ron's nonsense had startled them. The twins did not want to show fear in front of the younger boys.

"You wouldn't be seeing things if you had stayed with us," scolded George glancing nervously around. "A bloody, Cannibal Ghoul. This is the last time we help you little wankers. From now on. Stay in front of us. Let's get over to the High Street so we can get back to school."

None of the four gave as much as a backwards glance at the place where they had shared their first and probably last Muggle Halloween. They were too intent on getting back to the main street which would lead them back to Hogsmeade and the tunnel back to Hogwarts.

The four boys traveled double time down the High Street reaching Hogsmeade in less than fifteen minutes.

Two steps into the tunnel Fred suggested they divest themselves of the costumes.

George disagreed. "Leave them on. The Halloween Feast will be starting shortly if it hasn't started already. Ronniekins the unoriginal git will have to go as is."

They remained in costume.

Fred, George, Harry and Ron all remained silent until their feet were planted solidly on the floor of Hogwarts. After which they surprised the portraits in the vicinity by letting out a huge four way collective sigh.

"We've made it. Let's get back to the Common Room."

With that. Four sets of feet pounded up the stairs heading to the Gryffindor Common Room

/*/

Out of breath and panting. The boys didn't have the chance or the breath to call out the password to The Fat Lady. They were saved when Seamus and Dean stepped out of the door giving a little wave as they passed. Harry, Ron, Fred and George didn't waste any time. They piled through the door tangled up like some eight legged anomaly.

They were home.

The four boys headed directly to their bedrooms for a quick wash up. They had little more than fifteen minutes before they were due in the Great Hall for the start of the Halloween Feast.

Hermione and Parvati Patil who were talking quietly off to the side of the room threw up their hands in a wave.

Then Hermione had stopped in mid sentence as though it had suddenly dawned on her she hadn't seen the boys all day?

"Where have you been?" asked Hermione getting out of the chair glancing first at Harry then at Ron. "What have you been up to? I haven't seen any of you all day. I know you haven't been studying because I was in the library for most of the day."

"What else is new?" muttered George as he waved Hermione off.

"Well," huffed Hermione turning up her nose. "I hope you four haven't been up to anything stupid. I don't want any marks against Gryffindor two months into term. Let's go Parvati. The feast will be starting any minute."

Shaking his head as he and Harry hurried to their room, Ron stopped long enough to share his thoughts on Hermione. "That one is nothing but trouble. Parvati is her only friend because no one else will put up with her."

/*/

Ron and Harry had made it out to experience a Muggle Halloween with no one the wiser. Although at one point during his welcoming speech it appeared as though Dumbledore was giving them a very hard and knowing look.

Having heard how the powerful Albus Dumbledore could manage anything. Harry kept his eyes on his food thinking he didn't want the Headmaster to read his thoughts by looking into his eyes.

/*/

As he had done at the first welcoming feast, Harry gazed with wonder at all the food. He wasn't alone though as most of the first years hadn't ever seen this much food at one time. Even if they had been born into a Wizarding family.

Harry did what he had learned to do best since coming to Hogwarts. He had tucked in.

Chewing on an extremely large chicken leg, Harry happened to look up in time to see a distraught looking Hermione head in the direction of the girl's bathroom.

Nudging Ron in the side, Harry whispered to Ron what he had just seen.

Ron replied nonchalantly that Parvati had ditched Hermione to sit with her sister Padma. "Serves the know it all right," Ron had added sharply. "Maybe when she learns how to treat people she'll acquire a few friends."

Harry wasn't crazy about Hermione, but he didn't care for the way Ron talked about her. Harry was remembering that until September 1st he hadn't ever had a friend or had the chance to be a friend.

Just as Harry opened his mouth to say something in Hermione's favor. The weird Professor Quirrell came rushing into the Hall shouting that a troll had somehow gotten into the dungeons.

The entire room of students had immediately gone into a panic. The young witches and wizards were petrified over Professor Quirrell's revelation. They had all began a run for the doors when Professor Dumbledore shouted for order.

Prefects were told to gather their house members and get them back to their common rooms and to ensure all students were accounted for. The professors were given a set of instructions as well.

As Ron and Harry prepared to follow the Gryffindor Prefect to their common room on the seventh level, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm. "Hermione!"

"What about her?" asked Ron moving to follow the rest of the Gryffindors.

"She's in the bathroom. She doesn't know about the troll. We can't just leave her to find out on her own. We have to warn her."

Ron started to tell Harry that Hermione wouldn't have been on her own if…

Harry held up his hand. This was a serious situation. He decided if Ron didn't want to help he would find Hermione by himself. He was a bit tired of Ron's sharp remarks toward Hermione. They were all Gryffindors after all.

"Do whatever you want Ron," snapped Harry. "I'm not going to let Hermione die because you don't like her. I'll see you upstairs."

An embarrassed Ron called after Harry. He had just gotten the words "Wait for…" when both he and Harry had been brought up short at the sight of a filthy, drooling troll heading straight for the girl's bathroom.

Harry hadn't hesitated. He ran directly for the bathroom shouting for Ron to get help. But Ron was right on Harry's heels. They had both burst into the bathroom waving their arms and shouting Hermione's name.

Harry had only been at Hogwarts for two months so he hadn't retained much. But with Hermione shouting out instructions the three young Gryffindors managed to subdue the huge Mountain Troll just as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell came through the bathroom doors ready to bring down the intruder.

Professor McGonagall had been flabbergasted to find her most favored student and two companions standing over the troll looking guilty. Holding her chest as though she was about to faint, Professor McGonagall stared at the trio. "Just what is the meaning of this? You could have been killed."

The three Gryffindors were in a place they weren't supposed to be with a troll lying at their feet. Things didn't get any worse than this. They would have been in deep trouble if it wasn't for Hermione speaking up to take most of the blame on herself.

After a scathing scolding from Professor McGonagall, the three students were told to go straight to the Gryffindor Common Room without making any stops.

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the bathroom with the threat from Professor McGonagall of a month long detention in their futures if they ever tried anything of this sort again ringing in their ears.

Their feet barely touched the ground as they ran up seven flights of stairs to do as they had been told by Professor McGonagall. Get to their Common Room…without making a stop. No one stopped. They had taken their Transfiguration Professor literally.

/*/

Hermione, Harry and Ron came to an understanding that night. The boys thanked Hermione for saving their arses with Professor McGonagall and she thanked them for coming to her aid.

The Adventure in the Girl's Bathroom as it came to be known formed a sort of bond among the three. They weren't great friends, but they were no longer adversaries.

Hermione excused herself a short time later exclaiming that she badly needed a shower and a rest.

/*/

After Hermione left the room, Ron had gone to the bedroom to get his and Harry's overflowing bag of treats.

The boys were scarfing down sweets as they discussed their thrilling, Halloween adventure in West Calder when Fred and George popped up.

"What do we have here George?"

"As I understand it Fred. We are in the presence of 2/3 of a heroic trio," retorted George a bit sarcastically grabbing a heaping handful of sweets from each boy's bag. "So lads. Even after a run in with an extremely dangerous Cannibal Ghoul. Which neither Fred nor I saw by the way," he added sotto voce. "You two and the know it all Hermione Granger took on an overly large Mountain Troll. Have I left anything out Freddie?"

Ron rolled his eyes at his brothers, but was careful to keep his treat bag very close to his chest and his mouth closed. He refused to become the butt of their jokes by offering any rebuttal to George's barbs.

Harry took the bait. "It was all down to Hermione. She's brilliant. She saved us twice today. First she alerted us to the old Muggle with the sack who comes out during Muggle Halloween festivities to capture children. It was Hermione's research that suggested he could possibly be a Magical phenomenon known as a Cannibal Ghoul. Without her we could have ended up as dinner for a demon. Regarding the troll. We wouldn't be here if Hermione hadn't shouted out instructions to help us take down the troll."

"Alright! Alright," shouted George holding up his hands. "Hermione is brilliant and you are her strongest supporter. She's still a know it all to me. It's getting late. I want to hear your take on how it feels to spend Halloween with Muggles.

Harry glanced from Fred to George and back. He had taken so long to respond that Fred and George walked over and put him in a Muggle wrestling hold.

"Fred. George. Stop. Let me go."

Ron knew better than to interfere when his brothers were being gits. He remained frozen in his chair hoping that the twins wouldn't kill Harry then come for him.

Harry was still fighting against the brothers when they suddenly let him go.

Looking up from the floor where he had fallen, Harry pulled himself to his knees. With a genuine smile on his face, he put the twins in their place. "You do know that in the Muggle world what you've just done is called bullying. You are both filthy bullies."

Fred and George's stood frozen. The insignificant, little first year had just given them a right telling off.

Fred had been the first to approach Harry with George close behind. They pulled the first year up off the floor and dumped him unceremoniously into a chair.

"You my friend have the bollocks of a Hippogriff. George and I like that. Maybe some of your bravado will rub off on ickle Ronniekins. However. You are not off the hook. What did you think of Muggle Halloween?"

With a deep sigh Harry faced the third years. "Except for nearly being eaten by an old Muggle with a sack or killed by a rampaging Mountain Troll. It has been a very good Halloween. I can't wait for next year. Now I'm off to bed."

Halfway up the stairs to his dorm Harry turned back. "Thanks guys. My first real Halloween was absolutely amazing. Goodnight."

The End


End file.
